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First Look: ArtPalmBeach

The doors of the Palm Beach County Convention Center opened January 24 for an evening preview of ArtPalmBeach, the contemporary art fair displaying hundreds of thought-provoking works from more than 70 international galleries. There's a lot to see here, with artful surprises around every corner (and remarks of, "How did they come up with that?"). We were among the guests milling through the exhibits—and taking note of what turned our heads.

Untitled, Troy Abbott

What to see:

Brendan Dawes’ works from the UK's Richard Goodall Gallery shed a new light on movie posters. One second in a film consists of 25 frames. Dawes pieces together one movie frame from each second, presenting an entire film in a grid. Inspect the tiny stills of classics like Jaws, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Graduate and Annie Hall.

Miami artist Troy Abbott's exhibit in the Robert Fontaine Gallery is a digital pet store. Peer into the bird cages, which hold life-sized video screens of canaries, finches and doves hopping around.

Carlos Estevez’s Noah II wooden model steamboat, displayed by the Evan Lurie Gallery from Indiana, holds paper cutouts of famous passengers such as Billy Joel, Beyonce and Daniel Radcliffe. It’s like a celebrity version of Where’s Waldo?.

From New York, Sputnik Gallery’s Irina Davis photographs modern Russian women as classic American pin-ups. Her photos aim to give Russian women of the ’40s and ’50s—who were expected to remain tough during wartimes—the flirty fun they never experienced.

In London's Woolff Gallery exhibit, admire Zac Freeman’s work from afar, then take a closer look. The portrait of a man’s face is created out of garbage, while the tiny goblets stacked on an enclosed wall shelf are made of candy wrappers.

Greg Haberny also works with garbage, and his installations, on display in the Michael Lyons Wier Gallery in New York, are some of the most controversial and confusing in this year's fair. Elephant vs. Machine depicts an elephant with a chainsaw trunk attacking a child’s dresser (watch for wood shavings where you step). His interpretation of the United States, Beautiful Disaster, which was on display at the Democratic National Convention, is a wall of plastic materials and melted items that together form the shape of the country. His works aren’t for everybody, but they draw a crowd—and opinions.

Rectangle, Hans Kotter

Returning favorites:

As always, the neon light installations from New York's De Buck Gallery are a contemporary art playground. Have fun staring into the light and mirror displays and Hans Kotter’s latest infinity tubes.

Also a bright exhibit, Stephen Knapp’s lightpaintings are on display near the entrance of the fair. The artist arranges glass filters that act as prisms, then shines a light on them to create dazzling colors and lines.

Be on the lookout for classic contemporaries: Several galleries throughout the fair hold works by Harry Benson, Annie Liebovitz and Andy Warhol.

ArtPalmBeach 2013 runs through January 28. For a schedule of events, click here.